deliverability

What is an Email Deliverability Audit?

lemlist team
LAST UPDATED
May 8, 2024
READING TIME
7 min.

An email deliverability audit is the process of analyzing your deliverability to figure out what issues could be affecting it.

By conducting a deliverability audit, you're not just improving your deliverability. You're also enhancing your chances of better inbox placement, a move that could potentially skyrocket your ROI.

This article explains what a deliverability audit is and why running one is essential if you want optimal deliverability to maximize your revenue.

Why conduct an audit?

Simply put:

By running an audit and taking action on the issues that come up during the audit, you can make more money.

Better deliverability means more people (sometimes dramatically more) will read your emails.

With more folks getting exposed to your expertly crafted emails, you will get more conversions.

The other side of the coin is neglecting your deliverability, which will inevitably lead to the pitch-dark scenario of you not making any money with your outreach.

The importance and key steps

The importance and key steps of an email deliverability audit

Sender Reputation

Importance: Ensures your email address and domain are trusted by email servers.

Key Step: Conducting an in-depth analysis of the reputation of your email address and domain and taking steps to improve it like utilizing email deliverability tools like lemwarm.

Content Strategy

Importance: Ensuring the email content adheres to best practices to avoid being marked as spam.‍

Key Step: Performing a thorough review of your email content, focusing on elements that might trigger spam filters.

Audience Engagement and Email List Health

Importance: Maintaining a healthy, engaged email list to improve open and click-through rates.‍

Key Step: Assessing the quality and engagement level of your email list, identifying inactive or unresponsive subscribers.

Technical Compliance and Setup

Importance: Verifying that DNS records like SPF, DKIM, and DMARC are correctly set up for email authentication and deliverability.‍

Key Step: Examining the email infrastructure, including authentication setups and server configurations.

Delivery Metrics and Analysis

Importance: Data can be the first indication that your deliverability tanks.

Key Step: Analyzing data on email delivery success rates, bounces, and spam complaints to identify trends and areas for improvement.

How long does an email deliverability take?

The duration of an Email Deliverability Audit can vary depending on the size of your email operations and the complexity of your current setup. Typically, a thorough audit can take anywhere from a few days to several weeks. It involves detailed analysis at multiple levels, from technical setups to content and audience engagement.

Conclusion

For any kind of email marketing, especially outreach, periodic audits are necessary to ensure good deliverability.

More than just a tool for cold emailing, an email deliverability audit is vital for the health and effectiveness of your digital communication strategy.

It’s about understanding and enhancing the journey of your messages from the outbox to the inbox, ensuring they are seen and read by your audience.

lemlist team
Your source of actionable outreach tips and strategies that will help you get replies and grow your business.
Get weekly outreach tips
SHARE THIS ARTICLE
Thanks! You've successfully subscribed to lemlist newsletter
Oops! Something went wrong while submitting the form.

Multichannel Expert

$
99
/ MO
Per user / 5 SENDING EMAIL
Everything in Email Pro
Email finder + verifier (500 credits/mo)
500 free credits per month
Linkedin prospection
LinkedIn voice notes
with Aircall
Cold calling prospection with Aircall
with Aircall
Advanced campaign conditions
Custom landing page
Premium support chat

Outreach Scale

$
159
/ MO
Per user / 15 SENDING EMAIL
Everything in Multichannel Expert
Email finder + verifier (1,000 credits/mo)
1000 free credits per month
Dedicated account manager (4+ seats)

More than 10 users?

Multichannel Expert

$
89
/ MO
Per user / 5 SENDING EMAIL
Everything in Email Pro
Email finder + verifier (500 credits/mo)
500 free credits per month
Linkedin prospection
LinkedIn voice notes
with Aircall
Cold calling prospection with Aircall
with Aircall
Advanced campaign conditions
Custom landing page
Premium support chat

Outreach Scale

$
144
/ MO
Per user / 15 SENDING EMAIL
Everything in Multichannel Expert
Email finder + verifier (1,000 credits/mo)
1000 free credits per month
Dedicated account manager (4+ seats)

More than 10 users?

Multichannel Expert

$
79
/ MO
Per user / 5 SENDING EMAIL
Everything in Email Pro
Email finder + verifier (500 credits/mo)
500 free credits per month
Linkedin prospection
LinkedIn voice notes
with Aircall
Cold calling prospection with Aircall
with Aircall
Advanced campaign conditions
Custom landing page
Premium support chat

Outreach Scale

$
129
/ MO
Per user / 15 SENDING EMAIL
Everything in Multichannel Expert
Email finder + verifier (1,000 credits/mo)
1000 free credits per month
Dedicated account manager (4+ seats)

More than 10 users?

PRM Tool
G2 Rating
Price
Best for
Standout feature
Con
4.9
star
star
star
star
star
$30/mo
$75/mo
$2,999/mo
Large, distributed sales teams
AI evaluation precision, gamified KPIs
Lack of tracking system
4.6
star
star
star
star
star-half
Not publicly available
Sales operations and finance teams
Powerful configurability
Limited training resources and complex to navigate
4.4
star
star
star
star
star-half
Not publicly available
Mid-market and enterprise businesses
Comprehensive incentive management
Potentially high cost and steep learning curve
4.7
star
star
star
star
star-half
$15/user/mo
$40/user/mo
Enterprise: custom price
Complex sales structures and businesses of all sizes
Intelligent quota management and gamification
Steep learning curve
4.6
star
star
star
star
star-half
Not publicly available
Collaborative teams
Connected planning
Complexity and steep learning curve
4.6
star
star
star
star
star-half
Not publicly available
Companies with complex sales structures
Complex incentive compensation management (ICM) with high efficiency and accuracy
Complexity for smaller teams and potentially high costs
4.7
star
star
star
star
star-half
Not publicly available
Companies who want to automate commission calculations and payouts
Simplicity and ease of use
Lack of features like redirection
4.7
star
star
star
star
star-half
$30/user/mo
$35/user/mo
Custom: upon request
Businesses that need a comprehensive and user-friendly sales compensation management software
Ease of use and adoption
Lack of ability to configure the product based on user needs
4.8
star
star
star
star
star-half
Not publicly available
Companies with modern sales culture and businesses who want real-time insights
A built-in dispute management and real-time visibility
Users say it works slowly, customer support is slow
4.9
star
star
star
star
star
$30/user/mo
$50/user/mo
Smaller sales teams
Powerful automation
Lesser user base and average user interface
4.7
star
star
star
star
star-half
Not publicly available
Companies with scalable needs
Automated Commission Calculations
Lack of filtering by date, no mobile app
PRM Tool
Rating
Feature
Pro
Con
Mobile App
Integrations
Free Plan
Pricing
4.65
star
star
star
star
star-half
Org-wide alignment
User-friendly layout and database
Suboptimal as a personal CRM
square-check
Lack of tracking system
square-check
Team: $20/month
Business: $45/month
4.7
star
star
star
star
star-half
Social Media Integration
Easy contact data collection
No marketing/sales features
square-check
Lack of tracking system
square-xmark
7-day trial
$12/month
4.75
star
star
star
star
star-half
Block Functions
High customization capability
Not a dedicated CRM
square-check
Limited
square-check
Plus: €7.50/month
Business: €14/month
N/A
Open-source
Open-source flexibility
Requires extensive manual input
square-xmark
Limited
square-check
Self-hosted
$9/month or
$90/year
3.1
star
star
star
Simple iOS app
Ideal for non-tech-savvy users
iPhone only
square-check
iOS only
Limited
square-xmark
1-month trial
$1.49/month or
$14.99/month
3.6
star
star
star
star-half
Smart Contact Management
Feature-rich and flexible
Reported bugs
square-check
Rich
square-xmark
7-day trial
Premium: $13.99/month
Teams: $17.99/month
4.4
star
star
star
star
star-half
Customizable Interface
Customizable for teamwork
Pricey for personal use
square-check
Rich
square-xmark
Standard: $24/member
Premium: $39/member
4.7
star
star
star
star
star-half
Integrated Calling
Integrated Calling
Too sales-oriented & pricey
square-check
Rich
square-xmark
14-day trial
Startup: $59/user/month
Professional: $329/user/month
4.8
star
star
star
star
star
Business Card Scanning
Business Card Scanning
Mobile only
square-check
Limited
square-check
$9.99/month
4.45
star
star
star
star
star-half
160+ app integrations
Comprehensive integrations
No free app version
square-check
Rich
square-xmark
14-day trial
$29.90/month or
$24.90/month (billed annually)

What you should look at next

Receive weekly outreach tips in your inbox, sent to 210 000+ salespeople, marketers, founders, and entrepreneurs worldwide!

Subscribe to the lemlist newsletter
You've successfully subscribed to the lemlist newsletter!
Oops! Something went wrong while submitting the form.